Palestinian Elections
It is so humorous watching this administration. Here they are, spouting on about how they want to spread democracy in the Middle East, blah, blah, blah . . . blah-blah, blah, blah. Then, when there are free and fair elections and a party is put into power that they don’t like, they start talking about sanctions, calling off peace talks, etc. etc. etc.
Bush said that he will not deal with Hamas because it is a terrorist organization. Since they are in the majority in the Palestinian territories, I guess that means he will not deal with the Palestinians at all. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, “To be very clear, we do not provide money to terrorist organizations. We will take a look at the full spectrum of our aid programs.” Condoleezza Rice said that a party could not “have one foot in politics and the other in terror. Our position on Hamas has therefore not changed.” Bush said, “If your platform is the destruction of Israel, it means you’re not a partner in peace, and we’re interested in peace.” Yet, in a fit of irony, he supports those in Israel who wish to destroy the Palestinians, and take all their territory.
Sure, Hamas is quite militant, and wants to eliminate Israel, kill all Jews, and maybe ally themselves with Muslim fundies who want to destroy the West, but what do you expect from those people? They were kicked out of their homes so that a Jewish nation could be created. Under various Jewish regimes, these people were killed, tortured, arrested, their homes destroyed, their land taken away, families separated, etc. For almost 60 years, these people have been marginalized and more than a few attempts were made to eliminate them completely. Is it any wonder they are pissed? Hell, if I were in their position, I’d be more than a little pissed. Yet, people in the Bush administration expect them to kiss and make up with Israel. There must be some really good pot floating around Washington that I don’t have access to.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not an anti-Semite, nor am I pro-Arab. I am for realism. All I ask is that people in the USA and Europe step back, and look at the historical record without bias, without being colored by religious and political beliefs. Understand what is really going on, and why things are the way they are.Things would probably be a lot different in the world if they were able to do that, if they would look at the reasons different nations, states, and peoples are antagonistic toward each other. There might be realistic solutions found to problems, and in all likelihood, these solutions would be workable.
Unfortunately, I don’t expect anything like that to happen. The Bushies and their allies will harden, refuse to work with the Palestinians, place sanctions, and perhaps even try a military takeover of some sort. It’ll be just like Venezuela and Haiti all over again. Which way will it turn out, like Haiti, where the citizens will was subverted, or Venezuela, where the people triumphed in spite of US intervention? Only time will tell.
Democracy is good, as long as the people we want in power get elected, according to the Bushies. Unfortunately, that isn’t how democracy works. It’s about other countries being allowed to elect their own leaders, even if we don’t like who they make their leaders. Have they not read the Declaration of Independence lately?
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed
The consent of the governed, not the consent of foreign powers, and not the consent of the Bush Administration. It makes me wonder what will happen in Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia where people “the USA” didn’t support were elected. These countries are in our backyard. Will we send emissaries there to attempt a coup d’etat in each of those countries to remove duly elected leaders who don’t like or get along with Bush and his cronies? Will Bush, with Israeli aid, attempt to destroy the recently elected leaders of the Palestinians? Only time will tell.
